weidner



Jan. 27, 1931. wElDNER 1,7905632 KNITTING MACHINE Filed Aug. 19, 1927 v 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG: I-

WITNESSES I INVENTOR:

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KNITTING MACHINE Filed Aug. '19, 1927 '6 Shets-$hee$ 5 WITNESSES I N V EN TOR I. Wezalnez;

Ja n. 27, 1931. R. l. WEIDNER 7 1,790,632

KNITTING MACHINE- Filed Aug.'19, 1927 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 WI I'NESSES @zf wiajzu X BY iif/dph lmidmr, 90% a. E Q 4%ATTQRNEYS.

INVENTOR:

KNITTING MACHINE Filed Aug. 19, 1927 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 M'IIII WITNESSES IN VEN TOR:

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ATTORNEYS.-

. Jan. 27,1931. R. 1. WEIDNER I 1,790,632

- KNITTING MACHINE Fi1ed Aug 19, 1927 6 Sheet s-Sheet 6 WITNESSES INVENTOR:

. ATTORNEYS.

Patented Jan. 27, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT .oFFIcE RALPH I. WEIDNER, OF LANSDALE, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR-TO DEXDALE HOSIERY IJIILLS, OF LANSDALE, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA KNITTING MACHINE Application filed August 19, 1927. Serial No. 214,025.

This invention relates to knitting machines, and more particularly to seamless hosiery. knitting machines equipped with means enabling relative positional shifting :of the needle cylinder and the driving mechanism therefor, so that selected groups of needles can be actuated by the knitting cams incidental to oscillatory knitting, for example, in fashioning in prolongation of a stocking foot, a pair of complemental selvage-edged tapered tabs adapted to be subsequently looped together along their contiguous selvage edges to form the stocking toe. As a consequence of shifting the needle cylinder as aforesaid upon completion of the first tab to prepare the machine for knitting the complemental tab, a length of yarn is laid across certain of the needles idled during the fashioning, said yarn being therefore not knit into the web and appearing as a float in the finished stocking. Heretofore this float yarn was removed by a subsequent cutting operation which required individual handling of the stockings and added ma 1 terially to labor costs in extensive hosiery production.

The main objects of the present invention are to eliminate the necessity for the latter step by inter-knitting the yarn previously floated as above mentioned; and to provide 1 and II.

Fig. IV is a diagrammatic linear development of the knitting cams by which the needles are actuated, with a portion. of the fabric produced by the machine superposed above .it.

Fig. V is a detail plan section, taken locally as indicated by the arrows V.V in Fig. I. Fig. VI is a fragmentary plan section in the same plane as the immediately preceding illustration, but with certain parts differently positioned.

Figs. VII and VIII are detail cross sections, taken locally as respectively indicated by the arrows VII+VII and VIIIVIII in Fig. V.

Fig. IX is a perspective view of the clutch latch by which the needle cylinder is coupled with its driving gear wheel.

Fig. X shows a faceview of a gear wheel embodied in the drive mechanism of the machine and the special parts which it carl'leS.

. Fig. XI is a detail plan section, designated by the arrows XIXI in Fig.1. f

Figs. XII and XIII are detail sections, taken locally as indicated respectively by the girimvs XIIXII and XIIIXIII in Fig.

Figs. XIV and XV are detail sectional views, taken as indicated by the arrows XIV'XIV and XV-XV in Fig. III, showing two special needle actuating cams which are instrumental in causing inter-knitting of the float yarn hereinbefore referred to. Fig. XVI is a detail View showing the action of the cam featured in Fig. XV.

Fig. XVII is a fragmentary sectional View, taken as indicated by the arrows XVII-XVII in Fig. XVI; and,

Fig. XVIII is a perspective View of a portion of a stocking with the tapered toe tabs produced by the machine.

The knitting machine chosen forthe purposes of illustration herein is of a standard type such as exemplified in U. S. Patents Nos. 1,266,044 r May 14, 1918, and 1,330,818 of February 17, 1920, both granted to A. M. Pi eon and extensively used in manufacturing seamless hosiery. The needle cylinder 20 is axially mounted on a driving gear wheel 21 (Figs. III, V, VII andVIII). that is recessed'in a supporting annulus 22 and re tained therein by overlapping washers 23. This annulus 22 is sustained at the" top of a vertical rod 24 having guidance in suitable hearings on the machine frame with capacity for up and down shifting, under governance of a rotary cam disk 25, in changing the level of the needle cylinder 20 with respect to the positionally-fixed knitting cams and thereby varying the size of the fabric loops as ordinarily practiced in fashioning the legs of the stockings. As shown in Figs. I, II and III, the knitting cams are supported on the outwardly projecting portion of the top or bed plate'26 of the machine, and grouped about the needle cylinder 20. The cam disk 25 is secured to one end of a transverse shaft 27 in the lower partof the machine frame I), "said shaft supporting the usual clutch control drum 28 whereby the rotary and oscillatory phases of the knitting operation are determined. The mechanism for driving the machine under these two different conditions includes a pair of spur gears 29, 30 which are mounted, for rotation in unison, on a common axis and respectively inter-mesh with pinions (not shown) on the main driving shaft 31, the latter being equipped, as is generally customary, with high speed, low speed, and loose pulleys comprehensively designated .32 in Fig. II. During either phase of machine operation, the motion received by the main shaft 31 is transmitted, through a pair of companion bevel gears 33-34, to a spur gear 35 that moves with the latter of said bevels, said spur gear in turn imparting motion to the gear wheel 21 at the bottom of the needle cylinder 20, see Figs. III and V. In" termittent rotary movement of the shaft 27 V and the parts carried thereby is governed by a measuring chain 36 embodied in the pattern control mechanism of the machine, all as described in the first of the two Pigeon patents hereinbefore referred to. As is usual in seamless hosiery knitting. machines, the cylinder 20 is provided with two main groups of needles 37, 38 which in the present instance, are equal as to number and respectively characterized by long and short butts, the same being distinguished by heavy and light lines in Fig. IV. Acertain sub group 38a of the short butt series have slightly longer butts than their fellows. These I will for convenience'term special needles the specific function of which is later on fully explained, said needles being graphically represented by double lines in Fig. IV. The means for normally actuating the needles to form the fabric loops from yarn delivered by interchangeable feeds 39, include a pair of stitch cams 40, 40a and associate auxiliary cams 40m, 4-0y,the latter being yieldingly pressed inwards by springs (not shown) and beveled along their vertical edges as indicated by the line shading in Fig. IV; a bottom center cam 411withja guard camel-2 over it; and side cams 43, 4 1; as well as a cam (such as is disclosed Y in the Pigeon Patent No. 1,330,818, hereinbutt needles 38, 38a in fashioning the heel pockets; and a depressing cam 46 whereby said long butt needles are afterwards returned to the active level. The needle actuating means further include raising pick- 'ers 47, 47a, and drop pickers. 4L8 III) to cooperate with said raising pickers alternately during widening incidental to heel knitting. The elevating and depressing cams 45,46 are respectively securedto arms 4-9, 50 WAlCll are pivoted intermediate their ends with capacity for independent swinging movement, on a common fulcrum stud 51, and subject-individually to leaf springs 52. During rotary knitting, the elevating and depressing cams 45, 46 occupy the positions shown in the drawings; but concurrent with shifting of the main clutch of the machine (not shown) in changingto the oscillatory phase of operation, their position is reversed, i. e. the elevating cam 45 is permitted to move inward under urgence of its spring 52 while the'depressing cam 46 is withdrawn. This action is brought about incidental to shifting of the clutch rod 53 which has attached to it a bracket arm 54, Figs. I and III, with inwardly extending fingers 55, 56 forengag ing studs 57, 58 respectively on the cam arms 49, 50 at opposite sides of their common pivot 51. The connections at 57, 58, it will be ob served from Fig. iII, allow independent movement of the cams e5, 46 as hereinafter more fully explained, the first mentioned of these cams being SUbjGC'; to an auxiliary bow spring 45a. The brackets 54: also has a finger 59 that normally maintains the elevating picker 47 out of the way of the needlebutts during round and round knitting.

The machine is equipped with suitable clutching mechanism enabling changes in the operative relation of the needle cylinder 20 relative to the knitting cams so that the long and short-medium butt needle groups can be separately used during oscillatory knitting in fashioning the complemental tapered toe tabs of the stockings. This clutching mechanism includes a spring-pressed clutch latch 60 (FigsV, VI, VIII and IX) that is pivoted at 61 to the gear wheel '21, and at its free end carries a downward'projection 62 adapted to engagewith diametral slots 63, 63a in the flange of a ring 64 screwed fast to the bottom of the needle cylinder 20, thereby to ion normally lock the latter to said gear wheel.

For the purpose of withdrawing the clutch latch 60 to temporarily release the needle cylinder 20 from its driving support 21 as hereinafter'more fully explained, a crescent shaped cam 65 is provided for cooperation with a stud 66 upstandind' from'said latch, see Figs. VI and IX. As Town, the crescent withdrawing cam is supportedby a curved arm 65a fulcrumed at 67 on the top plate 2 6, said arm having pivotal connection with the upper forward bifurcation of a thrust bar 68. This thrust bar 68 extends rearwardly along the side of the machine shown in Fig. I, and has its end slidably engaged in the laterally turned extremity of a lever 69 which is subject to a tension spring 69a and rockable on a fixed pivot 70. When in the normal raised position of Fig. I, the rear end of the thrust bar 68 lies above the plane of a bell crank tappet 71 pivoted at 72 to the side of the machine frame for vibration induced by virtue of its connection with a spring-influenced reciprocating rod 7 3 extending transversely of the machine frame (Fig. III) and slidably supported in suitable bearings. As shown, the inner end of the rod 73 lies in the path of an actuating cam 74 on the gear wheel 29 previously mentioned as associated with the drive mechanism of the machine. The crescent shaped cam 65 is normally retained in the retracted position of Fig. V by a spring 68a drawing upon the thrust bar 68. The needle cylinder clutching mechanism just described is controlled by the measuring chain 36 which to this end is equipped with apair of cam lugs 75, 7 5a adapted to engage a pivoted finger 7 6 (Fig. I) having connection, by means of a link 77, with the lever 69. A contractable brake band 78 (Figs. III, V, VII, VIII and XI) serves, by clamping the depending portion of the ring 64, in arresting the momentum of the needle cylinder 20 concurrent with release of the latter through withdrawal of the clutch latch 60. This brake band 78 is operated by a lever 79 which has pivotal connection with the lower bifurcation of the thrust bar 68 (Fig. I) so as to be actuated simultaneously with withdrawal of the clutch latch 60 by the crescent shaped cam 65.

The machine is further equipped with an auxiliary lowering cam 80, (Figs. III, IV

' and XII) for bringing down the long butt needles37 to the active level to enable fashioning with them, said cam being secured to the inner end of a spring-influenced rod 81 that is slidable endwise in a bearing bracket 82, while an overhanging guard 80 secured to said bracket serves to direct beneath the cam 80 any long butt needles 37 which may be lifted somewhat above the proper inactive level incident to jarring or otherwise. The cam 80' is controlled by a vertical slide 83 having a cam bevel (Fig. XII) for cooperation with a collar 84: on the protruding end of the rod 81. A link 85 connects the slide 83 with a finger 86 (Figs. I and II) lying in the path of alug 86a that projects from one side of the clutch control drum 28. When engaged, the finger 86 causes downward movement of the slide 83 in opposition to a spring 83a (Fig. XII), thereby allowing the lowering cam 80 to seek the inner position indicated in dotted lines in the illustration last referred to. As hereinbefore stated, during oscillatory knitting with the short butt needles 38 in operation, the cam 46 is held inactive and it will be remembered that this cam serves to elevate the long butt needles 37 and must therefore be withdrawn from action when fashioning is practiced with these needles. Such withdrawal is efiected by a bolt 87 igs. I, III and XIII) which isslidable vertically in the top plate 26 of the machine frame and has its upper end chamfered for capacity, when raised, to move the arm 50that carries said cam 46. The bolt 87 is held in the raised position through engagement of the arm 50 with an undercut recess 87a in its side, and thus serves to lock the cam 46 in inactive position. The function of elevating the bolt 87, as shown in Fig. I, is relegated to the lever 69 previously men-- tioned.

The operation'of the machine with the equipment thus far described is as follows:

Let it be assumed that the leg and heel pocket of a stocking has been knitted in the usual way, and that the machine is just completing the last few rounds of the foot portion F (Fig. XVIII) just before change into the oscillatin base of o eration for fashinning of the toe. "With initiation of the latter phase as predetermined in the customary manner by the drum 28, the main clutch rod in being incidentally shifted, moves the bracket 5% inward with the result that the cam 46 is withdrawn and the cam 45 at the same time rendered active to raise the long butt needle group 37 (constituting in the present instance one half the full complement) to the idle level. With ensuing oscillation of the needle cylinder 20, the end needles of the short-medium butt group 3838a are raised' one at a time-by the pickers i,7 l70..' The fashioning is carried on until. but a few short butt needles (coinprehended by thebrace 38m in Fig. IV) re main in action. As a consequenceof the procedure just described, a tapered tab such as shown at T in IV and XVIII is produced a prolongation of one side of the tubular foot portion F of the stocking. I/Vhen this is aecomp-lished,the finger86is automatically tripped by the projection 87 on the drum 28 (Fig. I), and the auxiliary lowering cam 80 (Figs. III, IV and XII) shifted inward by motion transmitted through the interposed parts previously described, to intercept the long butt needle-s 37 and bring them-all down to the active level. This pe riod in the cycle is graphically depicted in Fig. IV from which it will be observed that the current movement of the needle cylinder 20 is to the left, and that the long butt needles 37 have just started downthe incline of the auxiliary cam 80. 'Contemporaneous with these events, the lug 75 on the measur ing chain 36engages the finger 76 causing the lever 69 to be swung to lower the rear end of the thrust bar 68 into the plane of the tappet 71 for actuation thereby. The forward shog thus communicated to the push or thrust bar 68, results in inward movement of the arm 65a to project its cam crescent 65 into the path of the stud 66 on the clutch The needle cylinder thus loses a halfrotation to the end that the long butt needles 37 may now be utilized for fashioning purposes.

Concurrent with movement of thelever 69 in effecting clutch actuation, it will be observed from Fig. I that the bolt 87 is lifted Q to Withdraw the cam 45, this being made possible by virtue of the slot in the finger at the stud connection 57, and so hold it temporarily retracted (the cam 46 being'already retracted and idle) while narrowing proceeds in precisely the same manner as before,

but nowewith the long butt needles in action to produce the complemental tab T of Fig. IV, the few short butt needles 38% (Fig. 1V) previously left at the active level simply moving back and forth with the cylinder 20 at this time without being actuated by the stitch cams 40, 40a, since the oscillatory throw imparted to said cylinder by the drive mechanism of the machine is considerably less than a complete revolution. In this connection I it is to be remarked that during movement toward the left in Fig. IV, the

needles passing immediately over the top of the stitch cam 40a, in encountering the bevel vertical edge of theauxiliary cam 40; cause the latter cam to be pressed outward. The needles thus pass across the front of the auxiliary cam Oy without being affected by it; but in moving further on, are lowered by '1 the auxiliary cam 40% into the province of stitch cam 40. Similarly, as the needles move in the opposite direction or to the right in Fig. IV, the auxiliary cam 40% is rendered inoperative while the auxiliary cam 402 1 functions to guide the needles tothe stitch cam 40a. Such act-ion is however characteristic of the standard Pigeon knitting machine hereinbetore referred to, and there fore not, per se, afeatureof the present invention. At the end of the second fashioning operation by which the tab T is produced, the finger 76 is tripped again, this time by the lug a of the measuring chain 36, and thereby effects another semi-rotative transposal of the needle cylinder 20 relative to its driving mechanism to restore it to the normal operative relation with respect to the knitting cams, whereupon the machine position to bring all the needles left at the idle level, down, into the province of the knitting cams. f

Now as a consequence of shifting the needle cylinder 20 in preparation for knitting the second toe tab T under the above conditions, yarn will ordinarily be floated across the picked fashioning needles lying between the short butt needles 3800 still remaining in action at the time, and the long butt needles 3'? whereupon the oscillatory knitting is to be continued, said yarn subsequently appearing free between'the points P, P in Figs. IV and XVIH. Therefore in order to determine inter-knitting of the yarn which isordin arily floated in the manner just explained, in accordance with my inventionl interpose between the short butt needles 3802 and the long butt needles 37, the special medium butt needles 380 as already stated, and provide amongst the knitting cam group a pair of special cams 90, 91 to actuate said special needles, see Figs. IV, XIV and XV. As shown, the special cam is located directly above the center cam 41 (the guard cam l2 being cutout as at 12a t-oaccommodate it) and secured to the inner end of a plunger 92 which is slidable horizontally in a bracket 93 supporting said guard cam and subject toa spring 94 tending to urge it inward, see Fig. XIV. At its'outer end, the plunger 92 carries a collar 95 for engagement by a bifurcated finger 96 on a rock shaft 97 extending transversely of the machine and supported in bearings 98 above the bed plate 26, see Figs. 1 and Ill. Secured to one end of the rock shaft 97 is a drop arm 99 (Fig. 11) which has pivotal connection at 100 witha bar 101 that lies, with capacity for longitudinal movement, in a vertical slot in the laterally turned end of a lever 102 pivoted to the side of the machine frame at 103. A spring 101a sidered in Figilll. During the operation of the machine, the tappet 106 is constantly vibrated about its pivot 107 through engagement by a plunger pin 110 having bearing in the side of the machine frame, the inner end of said plunger pin lying in the path of a segmental cam 111 secured to the face of the gear wheel 30, see Figs. II and X. The

other special cam 91 has an inclined lower elevating ledge 91a with a lateral projection, to engage all the needles, and an inclined upper depressing ledge 91?; of a lateral depth to be eflective only upon the long butt needles 37, see Figs. XVI and XVII. The cam 91 is secured to the inner end of a slide 112 with bearing in the bracket 113 which supports the drop pickers 48, seeFigs. III and XV. At its outer end the slide 112 is coordinated with an arcuate lever 114 fulcrumed centrally at 115 to the edge of the overhanging portion of the bed plate 26 of V the machine. The opposite end ofthe lever 114 is pivotally connected at 116 with a bar 11? (Figs. II and III) which lies alongside the bar 101 and is slidable in a separate slot in the laterally projecting portion. of the lever 102 aforementioned. The bar 117 is connected, by means of a tension spring 118 (Figs. II and III) with the drop arm 99 to the end that the parts are normally yieldingly held in the position illustrated in the drawings. The outer end of the bar 117 is undercut as at 119 for cooperation with a bell crank tappet 120 pivoted on the stud 107' directly above the bell crank tappet 106 previously mentioned but with capacity for independent movement under actuation of a plunger pin 121 also having bearing in the machine frame, said plun er pin having its end lying in the path of a second segmental LCEUII 122 on the face of a gear 30, see Figs. II, III and X. The lever 102 isconnected, by means of a link 123, with a finger 125 fulcrumed-at 126 onthe machine frame and having its free end riding on a notched disk cam 127 secured to the end of the shaft 27.

As the needle cylinder 20 completes its movement to the left in Fig. IV in knitting the last course of the first toe tab T on the shaft butt needles 3850, the special cam 90 is thrust inward concurrently with the cam 80 which lowers the long butt needles 37 in preparation for initiating the knitting ofthe supplemental tab T, this being eflected at the proper time through dropping of the finger 125 (Fig. II) into the notch of the disk earn 127, thereby permitting the lever 102 to be drawn down by the spring 101a and the bars 101, 117 to fall into the province of the bell crank tappets 106, 120. As a consequence of movement of the special cam 90 into active position it will be seen from Fig. IV that the special medium-butt needles 88a (previously employed as fashioning needles) to narrow the first toe tab '1 along one edge P, P (Figs. IV and XVIII) are brought into action, i. e.,

guided down into the path of the stitch cam 10, thereby .interknitting the yarn which:-

would otherwise be floated between the points P, P. In themeantime, the special cam 91 is inserted so that with continued movement of the needle cylinder 20 in the direction indicated by the arrow. in Fig. IV, the special medium butt needles 38a, after having drawn their loops, are again elevated by the ledge 91a of cam 91 to the inactivelevel at the completion of movement of the needle cylinder in the direction indicated. Any long butt needles 37 which may be acted upon by thecam 91 as a consequence of excess movement of the cylinder 20 are also raised to the idle level; but immediately upon the succeeding reversal in the movement of said needle cylinder, as in Fig. XVI, such long butt needless are again brought into action by the lowering edge 916 (Fig. XVIII of the cam 91 in readiness to proceed with the supplemental toe tab T in concert with their fellows. These events all occur incidental to one rotation of the gear wheel 30,'the segmental cams 111, 122 carried by the latter being ofappropriate arcuate extent to determine duration of the active periods of the cams 90, 91 in bringing about the recited events in the order described. I

It isto be particularly noted that the parts embodying my invention constitute an attachment which is readily applicable to standard types of knitting machines such as herein illustrated without necessitating any changes whatever either in their usual construction or normal mode of operation. 1

Having thus described my invention, I claim: I y

1. In a knitting machine, means enabling positional shifting of the needles bodily relative to the knitting cams to permit fashioning with difierent selected groups of the-needles incidental to reciprocatory knitting; in com- 7 would be floated in passage from one of the aforesaid groups of needles to another.

3. In a stocking knitting machine, means enabling positional shifting of the needles bodily relative to the knitting cams to permit fashioning of complemental tapered toe tabs in prolongation of the stocking foot w1th d1fferent selected groups of the needles incidental to reciprocatoryknitting; in combinationwith means to determine inter-knitting, by all intermediate needles, of yarn which otherwise would be floated in passage from one-of the aforesaid groups of needles to an other as a consequence of the shifting aforesaid.

4. In a stocking knitting machine, means enabling positional shifting of the needles bodily relative" to the knitting cams to permit operation of the latter upon two different selected needle groups for the purpose of fashioning complemental tapered toe tabs in prolongation of the stocking foot through successive picking of end needles incidental to reciprocatory knitting; in combination with means operative during knitting of the last course of the first tab to bring all previously picked intermediate needles temporarily into action for the purpose of interknitting yarn which otherwise would be floated in passagefrom onegroup of the aforesaid needles'to the other as a consequence of bodily shifting of the needles in preparation for knitting of the second tab.

5. In a stocking knittingmachine, means enabling positional shifting of the needles bodily relative to the knitting cams to permit operation of the latter upon two different selected needle groups for the purpose of fashioning complement-a1 tapered toe tabs in pro- 7 longation of the stocking foot through successive picking of end needles incidental to reciprocatory nitting;in combination with means operative during knitting of the last course of the first tab to bring all previously pickedintermediate needles into action to inter-knit yarn which otherwise would be floated in passage from one group of the aforesaid needles to another as a consequence of bodily shifting of the needles in preparation for knitting of the second tab, and means to restore the aforesaid intermediate needles to inactivity immediately upon inter-knitting of such yarn. Y Y

6. In a circular knitting machine, means enabling positional shifting of the needle cylinder to change the operative relation between the needles and the knitting cams and permit fashioning with selected groups of the needles incidental to oscillatory knitting;

in combination with means to determine in- V ter-knitting, by all intermediate needles, of

F needles, of yarn which otherwise would be ing of the needle cylinder and drive mecha nism therefor to enable actuation by the knitting cams of two different groups of fashioning needles to successively produce complemental tapered tabs in 'prolongationof the tubular stocking foot incidental to oscillatory knitting; in combination with means to determine interknitting by all intermediate needles, of yarn which otherwise would be floated in passage from one of the aforesaid groups of needles to the other as a consequence to the shifting of the needle cylinder after production of the first tapered tab to prepare the machine for knitting the second tab.

9. In a circular stocking knitting machine,

mechanism for oscillating the needle cylinder, and means enabling relative positional shifting of the needle cylinder to change the operative relation between the needles and the knitting cams and thereby permit fashioning with two selected groups of the needles incidental to reciprocatory knitting for the purpose of producing complemental tapered toe tabs inprolongation of the stocking foot through successive picking of end needles; in combination with means operative during knitting of the last course of the first tab to bring all previously picked intermediate needles intoaction so as to inter-knit'yarn which otherwise would befloated in passage from one of the aforesaid groups of needles to the other as a consequence of bodily shifting of the needles in preparation for knitting the second tab.

10. Ina circular stocking knitting machine,

means for oscillating the needle cylinder, and means enabling positional shifting of the needle cylinder tochange the operative relationbetween the needles and the knitting cams to permit fashioning with two selected groups of needles incidental to reciprocatory knitting for the purpose of producing complemental tapered toe tabs in prolongation of the stocking through successive pickingof end needles; in combination with a special cam operative during knitting of the last course of the first tab to bring all previously picked intermediate needles into action to inter-knit float yar which otherwise would be floated in passage from one of the aforesaid groups of needles to the other as a consequence of bodily shifting of the needles in preparation for knitting of the second tab; and another special cam to restore the afore? said intermediate needles to inactivity im mediately upon inter-knitting of the float yarn.

11.111 a circular stocking knitting machine, means for oscillating the needle cylinder, and means enabling positional shifting of the needle cylinder to change the operative relation between the needles and the knitting cams and thereby permit fashioning with two selected groups of needles incidental to reciprocatory knitting of complemental tapered toe tabs in prolongation of the stocking through successive picking of end needles; in combination with a special cam operative during knitting of the last course of the first tab to bring all previously picked intermediate needles into action to inter-knityarn which otherwise would be floated in passage from one of the aforesaid groups of needles to the other as a consequence of bodily shifting of the cylinder in preparation for knitting of the second tab, another special cam to restore the aforesaid intermediate needles to inactivity immediately upon inter-knitting of the float yarn, and automatic means to control the two special cams.

12. In a circular stocking knitting machine, a cylinder with a group of long butt needles and a group of short-medium butt needles, means for oscillating the needle cylinder. means to select between the long and short-medium butt needle groups, and means enabling relative positional shifting of the needle cylinder to change the operative relation between the needles and the knitting cams thereby to permit fashioning with either of the needle groups through picking of end needles incidental to oscillatory knitting; in combination with means operative on the medium butt needles during knitting of the last course of the first toe tab to bring them into action for the purpose of inter-knitting yarn which otherwise would be floated as a consequence of bodily shifting of the needle cylinder in preparation for the knitting of the second tab with the long butt needles, and means to withdraw the medium butt needles from activity immediately upon interknitting of said yarn.

13. In a circular stocking knitting machine, a cylinder with a group of long butt needles and a group of short and medium butt needles, means for oscillating the needle cylinder, means to select between the long and short-medium butt needle groups, and means enabling relative positional shifting of the needle cylinder tochange the operative relation between the needles and the knitting cams thereby to permit fashioning with either of the needle groups through picking of end needles incidental to oscillatory knitting; in combination with a special cam operative upon the medium'butt needles during knitting of the last course of the first toe tab to bring them into action for the purpose of inter-knitting yarn which otherwise would be floated as a consequence of bodily shifting of the needle cylinder in preparation for the knitting of the second tab upon the long butt needles, another special cam to withdraw the medium butt needles from activity immediately upon inter-knitting of such yarn, means to automatically control the special cams aforesaid including a pair of constantly vibrating tappets, thrust bars coordinated with said cams, and connections subject to the pattern mechanism of the machine to bring said thrust bars into the province of the tappets for the purpose of actuating the cams.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name at Lansdale, Pennsylvania, this seventeenth day of August, 1927.

RALPH I. WEIDNER. 

